The Ricardo Tormo circuit was the scene of great moments for Maverick. He was on the podium at Valencia twice, having won his first 125cc victory there in 3, then in 2011 when he won the Moto2013 race ahead of Jonas Folger, Alex Rins and Alex Marquez, as well as the Champion title. of the world. His best MotoGP result came last year, when he took fifth place on Suzuki, 3 seconds behind winner Jorge Lorenzo, and behind Marc Marquez, Andrea Iannone and Valentino Rossi.
How will Vinales perform in Valencia this year on the Yamaha? As part of the answer, let us consult the results of the November 2016 tests :
1 Maverick VIÑALES Movistar Yamaha 1'29.975
2 Marc Márquez Repsol Honda Team 1'30.171 to 0.196
3 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati Team 1'30.443 to 0.468
4 Andrea Iannone Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 1'30.599 to 0.624
5 Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 1'30.686 to 0.711
Maverick has raced twice in MotoGP at Valencia, on the GSX-RR, qualifying eleventh and finishing the same in 2015, then placing fourth on the grid and fifth in the race last year.
In terms of his current form, Vinales is not in the firmament, with two ninth places recently acquired in Japan and Malaysia, framing a best third position obtained in Australia. He is alone third in the provisional classification of the World Championship, unable to join the second Andrea Dovizioso in Valencia, nor to be joined by the fourth Valentino Rossi.
To Maverick Vinales, who are " I arrive in Valencia with a very positive state of mind. After the last three races in Asia and Oceania, I spent some time at home, training and relaxing.
“The Ricardo Tormo circuit is a track that I really like, with a layout that suits my driving style very well. We are expecting good weather for the whole week, so I will try to attack and give 100% to end the season with a nice podium for the last race.
“We are already focused on next season and we also want to work hard during the test next week. »
For the team manager Massimo Meregalli, « After the three overseas Grands Prix, the team had a few days to catch its breath before the final race of the season. We are all looking forward to the Valencia Grand Prix.
“The atmosphere of the last round is always special: one season ends and immediately afterward the next begins. We arrive in Spain with the aim of not only finishing the season with a positive result, but we also want to start working for next year. There’s a busy week ahead of us and we can’t wait to get started. »
Provisional ranking of the World Championship:
1 MARQUEZ Marc SPA 282 points
2 DOVIZIOSO Andrea ITA 261
3 VIÑALES Maverick SPA 226
4 ROSSI Valentino ITA 197
5 PEDROSA Dani SPA 185
6 ZARCO Johann FRA 154
7 LORENZO Jorge SPA 137
8 PETRUCCI Danilo ITA 121
9 CRUTCHLOW Cal GBR 104
10 FOLGER Jonas GER 84
11 BAUTISTA Alvaro SPA 75
12 MILLER Jack AUS 73
13 REDDING Scott GBR 64
14 ESPARGARO Aleix SPA 62
15 IANNONE Andrea ITA 60
16 ESPARGARO Pol SPA 55
17 RINS Alex SPA 46
18 BAZ Loris FRA 45
19 ABRAHAM Karel CZE 30
20 RABAT Tito SPA 29
Ranking of independent drivers:
1 ZARCO Johann FRA 154 points
2 PETRUCCI Danilo ITA 121
3 CRUTCHLOW Cal GBR 104
Ranking of the best rookie (beginner):
1 ZARCO Johann FRA 154 points
2 FOLGER Jonas GER 84
3 RINS Alex SPA 46
4 LOWES Sam GBR 5
Classification by manufacturers:
1 HONDA 332 points
2 DUCATI 303
3 YAMAHA 301
4 SUZUKI 87
5 APRILIA 64
6 KTM 64
Team ranking:
1 REPSOL HONDA TEAM 467 points
2 MOVISTAR YAMAHA MOTOGP 423
3 DUCATI TEAM 398
4 MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3 238
5 OCTO PRAMAC RACING 185
6 TEAM SUZUKI ECSTAR 107
7 PULL&BEAR ASPAR TEAM 105
8 LCR HONDA 104
9 EG 0,0 MARC VDS 102
10 RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING 79
11 REALE AVINTIA RACING 72
12 APRILIA RACING TEAM GRESINI 67
Photo © Yamaha Racing
